Anthony van haagen



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANTHONY VAN HAAGEN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO BENJAMIN BROOKE AND HENRY B. GROSS, BOTH OF SAME PLACE.

CAKE OF SOAP.

SPECIFICATION forminglpart of Letters Patent No. 268,321, dated November 28,1882.

Application led October 14, 1882. (No model.)

TeaM whom it may concern Be it known that I, ANTHONY VAN H-AAGEN, a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a citizen ot' the United States, have invented an Improved Cake of Soap, ot' which the following is a speciiication.

My invention consists of a cake of soap made dat, or nearly so, at the top and bottom, and having rounded edges, in which are grooves or xo indentations aiording lodgments for the tingers ot' the hand which grasps the cake, the form of the latter and its advantages being fully explained hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a view of the cake of soap as it appears when grasped in the hand; Fig. 2, a sectional view of the cake; and Fig. 3, a sectional plan on the line l 2, Fig. 2.

Oakes or blocks of soap have been made in 2o the form of' spheres, which, although possessing the advantage of presenting extended sur-I faces to the hands in washing the latter, have two disadvantages-first, the difliculty ofholding the wet soap in one hand while rubbingit against the other, and, second, the fact that they are apt to roll away beyond easy reach when placed temporarily on any dat surface. In order to overcome the latterdifliculty I make the cake of the form shown in Fig. 2-that is, 3o in the shape of a sphere flattened on opposite sides. Perfect exactitude ot'shape, which might be designated by such a term as an oblate spheroid, is not essential; but the cake should be ilattened at the top and bottom, where it Amay be recessed, as indicated by the dotted line in Fig. l, and rounded at the edges, as shown. These rounded edgesV are deeply indented at uniform intervals, so as to form a series of grooves, b, in which the lingers of the hand which grasps the cake can be lodged, as 4o shown in Fig. 1. I thus obtain the extended surface so desirable in a cake ot soap used for hand-Washing, and at the same time afford the means of retaining the soap in one hand and preventing it from turning while it is being applied to the other hand. The cake, moreover, having Hat top and bottom, will not roll away `fromthe spot in which it is placed. The cake is in the present instance circular, as shown yin Fig. 3; but this shape may be departed from, 5o providing the edges are rounded and grooved. As the cake becomes reduced by repeated use there will be a reduction in the depth of the grooves, and the latter would tnally disappear hy the time the cake of'soap represented in 55 Fig. 2 had been red uced to the size indicated by dotted lines but for the fact that the soap is reduced within the grooves by washing, and that the repeated pressure of the fingers on the cake within the grooves tends tocontinue 6o the latter beyond their original limits. The grooves, in fact, may be so deep in the tirst instance that they will not disappear until the cake has been so far reduced that it is not of suliicient size for convenient use.

Iclaim a-s nly invention and as a new article of manufacture- 'A cake ff soap dat, or nearly so, at the top and bottom, and having rounded edges indented or grooved, as set forth. 7o

In testimony whereof I have signed myname to this specification in the presence ot' two subscribing witnesses.

A. VAN IIAAGEN.

Witnesses:

HARRY DRURY, HUBERT HowsoN. 

